Media News - Friday, March 30, 2012

The Economist reaches 1 million Facebook fans

The Economist announced Wednesday that its Facebook page has surpassed the 1 million fan milestone. Nick Blunden, global publisher of digital editions for The Economist, says the print brand's status has translated well to the social Web. The Economist has a global circulation of 1.5 million, which includes print and digital figures, according to an Audit Bureau of Circulations July-December 2011 report. While the number of online fans could surpass that of actual circulation, The Economist is still coming out ahead of its competition: TIME has just over 489,000 fans; The Wall Street Journal has just over 471,000 fans; The Atlantic with just over 91,000, and Bloomberg Businessweek with just over 47,500. “We have focused, primarily, on the best ways and the most engaging ways to put content into social media and primarily Facebook,” says Blunden. "Now, in the social media world, if you want to associate yourself with The Economist and show you’re interested in the world, you share our content on Facebook and Twitter. What Facebook has allowed us to do is unlock the inherent social value of our content.” Blunden says the best way for his brand to post content on Facebook is through timing and targeted editorial choices instead of taking content and posting it online as and when it becomes available. Blunden adds that The Economist looks to its Facebook audience to provide a value exchange. (Folio Mag)

Hungarian president loses doctorate in plagiarism case

Semmelweis University has stripped Hungarian President Pal Schmitt of his doctoral degree after determining that he copied much of his thesis from other sources, prompting opposition politicians to call for his resignation, the Hungarian media reported. The university's rector announced the decision on 29 March after a review panel determined that 180 pages of the 215-page dissertation on the Olympic Games were similar to other work, and that 17 pages were identical. The Hungarian magazine HGV first reported in January that a large part of Schmitt's dissertation, written in 1992, appeared to copy from a work by the late Bulgarian researcher Nikolay Georgiev's Analyse du programme olympique (des Jeux d'Olympiade). The issue raised considerable media interest in Bulgaria. Schmitt's entourage at first tried to explain that he had written his thesis together with the Bulgarian author, now deceased. But it soon became clear that Georgiev wrote his research several years earlier. Hungary's four parliamentary opposition parties have urged Schmitt to resign amidst growing media pressure. (Euractiv)

Reuters says Iran’s government suspends media accreditation of its staffers in Tehran

Reuters says the Iranian government has suspended media accreditation for its staff in Tehran after the news agency published a video on women’s martial-arts training that contained an error. Reuters says it had corrected a headline that accompanied the video from “Thousands of female ninjas train as Iran’s assassins” to “Three thousand women ninjas train in Iran” after the martial arts club where the video was filmed made a complaint. The news agency said Thursday that Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance had contacted its Tehran bureau chief about the video and that Reuters’ 11 staffers were later told to return their media cards. Reuters said its editor-in-chief is in discussions with Iranian authorities to try and restore accreditation. (AP)

Philadelphia newspapers set to be sold to local leaders

A consortium of local business and political leaders is poised to purchase the Philadelphia Media Network, publisher of The Inquirer, The Daily News and Philly.com, according to several people familiar with the negotiations. The sale could come as early as Friday to a consortium that includes George E. Norcross III, a Democratic power broker in South Jersey; the parking lot magnate Lewis Katz; and Edward M. Snider, chairman of the Comcast subsidiary that owns the Philadelphia Flyers, those who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the nature of the continuing negotiations said. The imminent sale was first reported on the media blog JimRomenesko.com, citing newsroom reports. News of the imminent sale of the Philadelphia newspapers, for an estimated USD 60m, emerged in early February with newsroom reports of editorial interference in favor of the group, which was then being led by Mr. Rendell. After those reports came to light, 300 editorial employees signed a public statement insisting that the new owners agree not to alter the news coverage to reflect their “private or political interests.” The imminent sale comes as Philadelphia Media Network confronts newsroom layoffs in a continuing effort to cut costs amid a decline in print advertising revenue. The company eliminated 45 jobs in March, and on Tuesday said it would cut an additional 35 positions over the next six months. (New York Times)

EBU to apply for Top Level Domain names .radio and .eurovision

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on Thursday revealed plans to submit a robust application to acquire the .radio Top Level Domain name (TLD) for the global broadcast radio community. This application, which has the full backing of the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) and other relevant bodies, will stress that the .radio TLD would allow the EBU to create an internet-based platform where the world's radio broadcasters could assemble. Closer networking 'under one roof' would also bolster their position as an indispensible media sector, whose development would be accelerated by new radio services. Currently there are 21 TLDs, including .com, .org and .net, as well as national TLDs, such as .ch, .fr and .de. But the world authority that maintains and regulates web addresses, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN), has invited applications for new, more creative TLDs to be submitted by April 12, 2012. Following the meeting, President Jean-Paul Philippot said the EBU's application for .radio was in the best interests of the radio community and the medium itself. EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre said the EBU's aspirations for the .radio TLD would bring a one-time opportunity to "communitize" the world's oldest broadcasting medium as never before. (Asia Pacific Broadcasting Corporation)

Netherlands: Last issue of free newspaper De Pers

After little more than five years, Dutch free daily DePers has closed down. The last issue – March 30 – shows an empty glass on the cover. Covers of the paper were always special, as was the content that always differed substantially from its competitors. The pdf-version can be downloaded from the website. Notwithstanding the ambitions, De Pers never made any money. Also the deal with Mecom-daughter Wegener did not save the paper. Remaining editiors want to relaunch the paper as a online-only paid model. Almost 11,000 people have said they want to be a subscriber of the new paper. (Newspaper Innovation)

More recent Media News:

• 29/03/12 - EU prepares to launch first cybercrime centre
• 29/03/12 - EU reaches deal to lower mobile roaming fees
• 29/03/12 - New U.S. research will aim at flood of digital data
• 29/03/12 - Two Brazilian journalists murdered
• 29/03/12 - Two British journalists killed in Syria
• 29/03/12 - Case against Dutch journalist dropped for wrong reasons
• 28/03/12 - EU Parliament votes against delaying ACTA decison
• 28/03/12 - Al Jazeera decides against showing video made by gunman in Toulouse
• 28/03/12 - No tweets, no cameras: U.S. Supreme Court’s rules outdated for digital era, journalists say
• 28/03/12 - The king and i: Swaziland plans social media lese-majesty law
• 28/03/12 - Email is more popular than social media: study
• 28/03/12 - Liberia journalist in hiding after genital mutilation expose
• 27/03/12 - EU bans export of Internet surveillance gear to Iran
• 27/03/12 - French police have videos shooter made of Toulouse killings
• 27/03/12 - YouTube and France’s Audiovisual Institute partner up
• 27/03/12 - U.S. regulators push for online “do not track” system
• 27/03/12 - Poynter News University and EJC launch innovative new e-learning course
• 27/03/12 - Pakistan to have its first journalism awards
• 26/03/12 - Japan court orders Google to suspend autocomplete search function
• 26/03/12 - UK: New publisher to launch three hyperlocal titles
• 26/03/12 - First European-wide Youth Media Trend Report
• 26/03/12 - US: Facebook, lawmakers warn employers not to demand passwords
• 26/03/12 - Apps could fence in free-range Internet: US study
• 26/03/12 - Bloomberg TV cuts 30 staffers, adds digital jobs

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